My cousin Ryan is crashing with us tonight on his way back to grad school in Ohio. Much like last time, we had a great time staying up too late diddling around on a couple of guitars. Also much like last time, I discovered I have zero calluses on my fretting hand these days.
I should really start trying to find time to play more often.
My tip for any acoustic guitarists out there, try the Jim Dunlop Nylon Standard picks. I prefer the .88mm – soft enough to mute the pick/string click you get with hard plastic picks but still stiff enough to pick with. If you’re mainly playing rhythm, the .73’s are worth trying out as well. For electric, I like the Tortex Black Gold Standard.
How nice to know that there is another techy oriented blogger out there who has interests in guitar/music. 🙂
PS: You are not ‘just another techy blogger’ – that is not what I meant. I just happened to come across this site/blog lately.
I had to chuckle at your post. I have two acoustics and an electric sitting on the floor in their stands next to my computer. I spend more time dusting them than I do playing them. And when I do pick one up, eeeyow! my finger tips start screaming at me after just a few chords. My calluses may be long gone but my interest in playing remains. New Year’s resolution – play more.
I love the Jim Dunlops, but also love the Tortex acoustic picks. I’m partial to the .55 when I play in my living room, because it creates a softer sound, but I’ll use anywhere from a .33 to a .88 depending on what’s handy and how much attack I want on the individual strings. Also, I’ve found that if I’m using a softer pick, but want a harder sound, I’ll turn the pick so I’m strumming with one of the blunter corners, and/or bend the pick slightly (perpendicular to the strings) to make the pick effect stiffer.
Oh yeah, and I’m a programmer who finds he doesn’t spend anywhere near enough time playing guitar any more too.
Hg